


He Caught A Shooting Star

by marizousbooty



Category: Free!
Genre: Falling In Love, Fluff, Lots of glitter, M/M, shooting star au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-03
Updated: 2016-02-08
Packaged: 2018-03-04 12:58:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3068831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marizousbooty/pseuds/marizousbooty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rei catches a shooting star.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello~~ It's Emizou I have returned to drop another fic on you! I came up with this idea back in November I believe and has been working on it since. I'm in love with this idea and I've been nurturing this fic for a while. One reason why it took so long was because I had to do a lot of star research since I know next to nothing about space. Anyway please enjoy!!

Ryugazaki Rei never believed in magic. It was scientifically impossible. The supernatural were only legends passed down to scare and enthrall children. Sure he wouldn’t dismiss that mermaids or anything along those lines could possibly exist since roughly 95% of the ocean hadn’t been explored; and the possibility of Earth being the only form of life within this vast, unknown universe was absolutely preposterous. But Rei didn’t like to think of these things; instead he enjoyed what modern science has uncovered so far and what they were trying to understand later.

When he was younger, his older brother told him to close his eyes and make a wish on a shooting star.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because it’ll come true, but that’s only if you don’t tell anyone.” His brother told him.

Even at five Rei had never really believed him, but went along with it anyway. He couldn’t remember what he wished for but he knows for sure it didn’t come true. Magic wasn’t real and a shooting star couldn’t bring you wishes.

Flash forward to 15 years or so later. Rei lived alone in his tiny apartment just about 3 blocks from his university. He was doing exceptionally well in all of his classes and managed to keep his diet in check with the money he earned from his part time job. When he had spare time he usually read his growing collection of books on, well, everything. But sometimes when he had a lovely night off he would go down to the park and go stargazing.

——-

Rei’s blog entry number 476: November 12th, 9:42 pm

I am about to leave for tonight’s meteor shower that starts at exactly 10:24. I believe I should have left earlier so I have more time to set up my telescope and relax a bit before the show starts. I’m bringing the Orion SkyView along with me in hopes of taking some beautiful pictures of tonight’s show! This is supposed to be one of the brightest meteor showers since 2007.

I’ll be back soon!

Rei

\-----

This was one particular night Rei managed to finish all of his work due so he could go stargazing. Tonight was special though. A meteor shower was coming and he wanted to see it for himself. He left his apartment around 10PM and walked down to the park to set up his telescope. He found a beautiful spot atop a hill that gently sloped down into the lake. The moon shone brightly and there were only small wispy clouds in the brisk November sky. A slight breeze danced through the trees and rustled Rei’s hair. They were perfect conditions for tonight’s show.

At exactly 10:24 the meteor shower began. First it was one silver streak across the sky. Then two, then a dozen. Soon the sky was filled with streaks of silver that came and went in a flash, followed closely by faint swishes and cackles. Rei was breath taken by the overwhelming beauty before him.

Peeping through the telescope to get a closer look, he noticed a strange meteoroid bigger than the rest.   It was growing larger, coming closer. The silver burned a red hot, then blue; a bright, bright, blazing blue with a golden tail. That brief moment before Rei could react a sudden thought ran through his head.

_‘I need to catch it’._

Rei lurched forward and practically tumbled downhill towards the lake. The meteoroid-no, this was a shooting star his brother told him about- shot towards the lake in a downward spiral and bounced off the water’s surface like a skipping stone. The hiss of fire and water mixing joined the crackling in the sky. Rei barely got down to the shore before the silver, gold, and blue chunk of glowing space rock collided with him. A brief thought crossed his head

_‘Why did I run headlong into a meteoroid?’_

He expected to be crushed, for his skin to melt off and burn away from his body from colliding into this molten rock going at an incredibly high speed. Instead it was softer than any rock he’s touched (but it still hurt a lot). The wind was knocked out of him as he caught the falling star.

He tumbled down and rolled across the damp grass with the head pressed into his chest, the most unflattering shriek escaping his throat. Even when his back finally made a solid impact on the grass his world still wouldn’t stop spinning. His glasses had flown off somewhere. The heat pressed into him was almost unbearable. He opened his eyes (which he hadn’t realized he had squeezed shut during the impact and the tumble) he found the most beautiful sight.

In front of him with the deep, deep sky scattered with flashes of falling stars behind him was a boy with galaxies in his eyes. Beautiful magenta eyes that glittered and swirled like the stars millions of light years away were wide and staring down into his. Tufts of blond, curly hair that stuck up in almost every direction were framed in the flashing light of the meteor shower and the moon. The young boy seemed to glow- no, he was glowing softly. He literally radiated beauty and all Rei could do was try and catch his breath.

The stranger broke out into a big, dazzling grin that made Rei’s already jumping heart beat faster.

“You caught me!” the glittering star squealed in delight.

“What?” Rei gasped after catching his breath.

“You caught me before I could hit the ground! I’m a star, so I would’ve died if I had hit the ground,” said the star.

“This doesn’t make sense,” Rei said, sitting up and finding his glasses. “Stars are giant balls of gas thousands upon thousands of light years away how could you be a star?”

“I really am a star!” the young boy exclaimed, jumping up to his feet.  Rei flinched at the sudden noise. “I was born from rotating clouds of dust and gas and I’ve been in the sky for a _super_ long time. I’ve watched mankind for years.”

Even with the young “star’s” explanation, Rei still had a really hard time believing any of this nonsense. A star? Pah, yeah right. This was just a trick that could easily be explained scientifically.

“You see,” the little star went on, taking Rei’s silence as an okay to continue, “I’ve always dreamed of coming down here to walk among the humans and animals and just be _here_ on Earth but it’ super dangerous. I needed to find a way to knock myself and somehow land safely here, which is like a .2% chance it would actually work but I was willing to take it since it’s so~ boring up there. When a comet passed by I used that to knock myself down and here I am!” He threw his arms up and spun around, a cloud of glittery dust falling from his hair. “If you hadn’t caught me I would have definitely died and turned into a lump of space rock sitting in a crater.”

Throughout the star’s story, Rei could feel his eyes widening in disbelief. This really was a fascinating story, one that might be found in a children’s book or down the fiction aisle at a book store (which rei rarely trudged through). Of course Rei still didn’t believe him. How could he?

“Prove it,” he said. “Prove to me you are a star and this isn’t some hoax.”

The star jumped at the sudden proposition and broke into a wide, dazzling grin. “Challenge accepted.”

He shook out his glittering hair and collected the dust into his hands. “See this? It’s stardust,” he held it out to Rei. “Stardust to me is like skin flakes and broken hair is to you guys.” He sprinkled the sparkling silver and gold ash into the grass.

Rei still couldn’t believe it. A beautiful boy literally falls from the sky and into his arms, claiming to be one of the blazing balls of energy millions of light years away. _How?_

It’s a weird dream. It had to be. That’s what Rei told himself. He should just go along with it, he’s just going to wake up soon anyway. At least humor this so-called “star” for a little bit until he could go home and maybe wake up.

“Okay, ‘Star’-san,” Rei said, standing up and wiping the dirt and grass from his clothes, “It’s a good thing I caught you right? Now please, run along and do what stars do. I have a meteor shower to watch and record.”

“It’s over already.”

“What?!” Rei looked up so fast his neck creaked. He noticed that yes indeed, the meteor shower was over. The beautiful silver streaks were gone from the dark sky and all that was left was the little speckle of stars that managed to shine through the city’s light pollution. “No! I was supposed to take pictures for the blog!”

“Blog? What’s a blog?” the boy asked.

“It-it’s just a website where I go to write and post about certain topics for people who are interested to read. Tonight I was supposed to take pictures but I missed it when- when I had to …” Rei trailed off. He was still in disbelief that something like this happened. He felt numb, like this really was just some weird dream that he’d wake up from at any second. But it was too bright, too clear to be a fuzzy dream dreamt up after staying up way past his bedtime studying.

“That sounds sort of weird. Humans are weird. What’s this?” the boy pointed at the telescope at the top of the hill.

“Well I’m glad you asked,” Rei straightened up and tramped up the hill towards his telescope. “This is my Orion SkyView Pro 8. It has a 1000mm focal length that allows me to view deep space. It has a very stable tripod base that makes it very stable and enables it to turn smoothly.  It has an EQ mount that aligns nicely with the North Star so I can follow migrating stars with either the manual slow-motion controls or electronic monitor drive system.”

“That’s a little bit creepy, looking at North like that. And you stalk other stars too? That’s sort of really weird. This hobby of yours is beyond creepy.” The star interjected.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re stalking my friends and I honestly find that weird like what’s so interesting about us? We all just sort of sit there and sparkle.” The boy ran his finger along the side of the telescope as he talked.

“Please don’t do that,” Rei swatted his hand away and pulled out a cloth to clean the mark the boy left behind. “You might find it boring and… weird, but I and many other people enjoy stargazing. Stars may just sit there and ‘sparkle’, as you put it, but they are all beautiful and each one is so unique. It’s absolutely enthralling watching them.”

The boy turned pink and started playing with the silky tunic he wore, stardust falling out of the folds and landing in the grass.  “That’s still creepy,” he grumbled, not meeting Rei’s eyes.

“Here, come take a look,” Rei ushered the boy over to the eyepiece, “Look through here. Tell me if it’s clear yet.”

“Whoa! Castor and Pollux! Is that Anka?” He swung the telescope around and focused on another spot in the sky. “It is! And-ah!” he swung around once more, “It’s Caph and Shedir and everyone! Hello everyone look at me! I’m on Earth!” The little “star” started waving his arms frantically to the sky. “Wow they must be soo~ jealous that I’m down here.”

“You know a lot about stars. Many people don’t know much about Cassiopeia’s stars.” Rei’s decided to just play along with boy and his “I’m a star!” act.

“That’s ‘cause they’re my friends,” the boy was now swinging the telescope around and looking at all points in the sky, zooming in and out to get a look of his “friends”.

Rei needed to put an end to this. His mood had only done a downward spiral since the boy smashed him into the ground and claimed he was a walking ball of fiery energy. All he wanted to do now was pack up, bid the strange boy goodbye, and go home and go to bed. It was past his bedtime anyway.

“Well would you look at the time, it’s almost 11. I need to get home and sleep. I have to get up early for my morning classes tomorrow,” Rei said as he gently tugged the boy from his telescope.

“Aw you’re leaving? I didn’t even get your name yet,” the boy pouted. It was quite adorable, actually. Rei shook that thought out of his head and started to dismantle his telescope and put it away.

“That’s a little rude asking a stranger their name when you haven’t even introduced yourself yet.”

“Oh! My name’s Nagisa. I’m not a famous star like Bellatrix or Vega so no one actually knows about me. I’m just one of those little specks that sort of blend in with the rest of the stars in the sky.” The boy, Nagisa, said, crumbling the hem of his tunic. More stardust fell from the folds of satin and onto his toes.

 “No, I haven’t heard of you, I’m sorry,” Rei didn’t even bother looking up from his work. He just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. This “star”-no, Nagisa- had ruined his evening and he just wanted to get home. He collapsed the tripod and proceeded to place it gently in its case, making sure it fit snug and secure before closing and locking the lid. “Now if you will excuse me, I must be heading home. Good night.”

“Wait no don’t leave me! You didn’t tell me your name yet!” Nagisa latched onto Rei’s arm, glittering stardust falling from his hair and sleeves and onto Rei’s jacket.

“My name is Ryugazaki Rei. Now please, release me I need to get home,” Rei tugged his arm from Nagisa’s glittery grip and hefted up his heavy telescope case.

“Okay Rei-chan, but promise me you’ll come back tomorrow! As soon as possible okay? I want to talk to you more,” Nagisa said, eyes glittering and swirling.

“Maybe. I won’t promise you anything.” Rei felt drawn to those galaxy-filled eyes but he told himself to leave. Go before it turns out this boy is some nutty serial killer. He was being wary of the strange boy, and he had a right to be so. This whole scenario was unheard of and Rei had a right to be cautious.

“No, promise me you will. I don’t know anyone here except you, Rei-chan!” Nagisa reached for his arm again but Rei ducked out of the way.

“I can’t. I have a lot to do tomorrow so it’s not entirely possible that I can make it back here. And please refrain from calling me “Rei-chan”. We’re not that close. Good night!” Rei huffed and hurried away before the star could retaliate or attempt to keep him there longer.

——

Rei’s blog entry number 477: November 12th 11:07 pm

I’ve returned from my excursion but I am sad to inform you that tonight’s meteor shower brought me nothing but trouble. I failed to collect any pictures and I apologize for that, especially since I had promised you them in my previous post.

The reason for tonight’s failure was because of a series of unfortunate events. A boy, covered in glitter and muck (which he claimed it to be “stardust”), crashed into me and claimed he was a star. I could hardly believe such a thing but by the time I managed to recollect myself the meteor shower was over. I had managed to catch a glimpse of the beginning of the show but never the finale, and that saddens me greatly. This boy, Nagisa was his name, continued to pester me and kept going on about his friends, the stars. He does have a vast knowledge about the stars’ names and their locations but the fact that he kept prattling off about how he himself was a fallen star... It set me on edge and I finally had to leave but the boy grabbed my arm and insisted that I see him the next day! The nerve! I didn’t promise him and left as fast as I could.

I apologize greatly for not getting some nice pictures but I’m certain other blogs and websites can provide some stunning images of tonight’s show. I will make sure to catch the next one and take even more beautiful pictures then to make up for this time.

It’s late now so I must head off to bed. Good night everyone!

Rei

——-

Rei ended up staying awake for a couple more hours. He tossed and turned and couldn’t relax his body. Every time he closed his eyes all he saw were those magenta eyes that glittered and swirled like galaxies. Despite the fact Rei had taken a bath when he got home he could still smell the lingering stardust on him. It smelled like ash and something sweet, and the memory of that scent and those eyes would not let Rei rest.

He was glad he left the boy when he did, in fear that something bad would happen. But deep down he was also worried.

Late into the night, he let these thoughts take over. What if it was true and Nagisa really was a star? And Rei just left him there alone, at the park, in the middle of the night? A star who probably knew nothing about the world was wandering a park alone with weirdos on the loose at that time.

Rei finally fell into a fitful sleep at around 3 AM, dreaming of swirling eyes and glittering dust.

——-

Rei got to class on time the next day and sat through the lecture, taking notes accordingly. That morning he had woken up with Nagisa completely gone from his mind. Only towards the end of the lecture he started spacing out and the memory of golden hair painted silvery in the moonlight and galaxy filled eyes breached his mind. He smacked himself out of his thoughts and back to his notes, earning a few concerned stares. He felt himself go red and quickly busied himself with his notes, but in the process of shuffling through them he got a paper cut. Rei hissed softly at the sudden sting of pain.

——-

The remainder of Rei’s day went like this, but with far less injury. As the day wore on, Rei grew more and more worried about the dazzling boy he left to fend for himself at the park. He had a hard time believing that Nagisa was an actual star that crash landed, but Rei still worried about the boy. He seemed too naïve to fend for himself in that park. He thought about stopping by the park to check in on him, see if he really was there. Last night he was so harsh to Nagisa. He felt he should go and apologize for his rude behavior. There was a slim chance he would even be there, so Rei quickly dismissed the idea.

The sun set quickly because of the approaching winter, the sky turning beautiful shades of pink and purple. Storm clouds could be seen approaching rapidly from the horizon. Rei sat in his apartment at his desk finishing up some homework. He couldn’t concentrate completely on the math equations before him but instead drifted off to thoughts of a dazzling smile and shimmering eyes with thousands of stars within them. Rei’s thinning concentration finally withered and died, leaving behind a feeling of uneasiness. He kept trying to push the thoughts of Nagisa aside along with that nervousness he had about him, whether he really is okay alone in the park or if he should just forget about him. He honestly tried to forget about that strange boy but he had left such a deep impression on him that he just _couldn’t._

Unable to sit still at his desk any longer, Rei got up and started to reorganize his apartment. His place was small and didn’t have much stuff to begin with, so there wasn’t much to clean. He put away the dishes he washed that morning and cleaned off his coffee table, putting away the books he had lying around back into his bookshelf where everything was organized by subject, then authors last name. He tucked his Orion SkyView back into the closet and put away the laundry he had drying out on the veranda. After locking the door once he brought everything in, he noticed his coat from last night still lying over the arm of his sofa. He must have been really frustrated and annoyed to forget to hang up his favorite coat. He held it up and dusted all the lint it must have collected while lying there and noticed something sparkling on the sleeve.

During his cleaning excursion he had all but forgotten about the sparkling boy and here he finds some of his “stardust” on his jacket’s sleeve. He tsked and wiped it off. On first contact with the glittering ash a warm tingling spread through his finger. Panicked, Rei jerked his hand back and looked to see what strange occurrence was happening to his hand.

The paper cut he had received earlier that day was receding. The skin mended itself before his eyes until there wasn’t a wound anymore. It looked like he’d never cut himself in the first place. The only trace of the wound ever being there was the lingering stardust sprinkled across his hand.

Rei didn’t hesitate to grab his keys, shove his shoes on at the door and run out of the apartment, putting on the coat dusted with stardust as he ran. The lights were on and he wasn’t sure if he had closed his door all the way. His phone was still on the counter next to his wallet. But he had to get back to the park as soon as possible.

——-

He ran the whole way. He wasn’t wearing his running shoes but that didn’t matter. The November breezed cooled him off as he sprinted down the side roads and out into the park entrance. The park was only a few blocks away so it didn’t take him long to get there. The journey only took him about five minutes but the real challenge was tracking down Nagisa. If he really was still here.

“Nagisa!” He called out as he ran through the stone lined path. “Nagisa, I’m here just, like I promised!” He took a detour through a thicket of trees and square-cut bushes, scaring a couple on a bench when he popped out of the bushes. Apologizing profusely, Rei ran past them and down the path that led to the spot he had set up at the night before.

He ran up the hill, the last rays of sun glittering off the surface of the lake as it disappeared behind the trees. The storm clouds were moving in quickly as the wind picked up.

“Nagisa!” He called once more.

“Right here!” A bubbling laugh escaped from the bottom of the hill at the shore of the lake.

Rei’s worry was chased out the moment he saw the blonde star was still there. The last golden rays bounced off his hair and nearly blinded Rei. From atop the hill, he could see the glittering ash dusting his clothes and skin. Even with the fading sun behind him, Rei could still see Nagisa’s skin glowing faintly. The moment Nagisa saw Rei, he sprung to his feet and bounded up the hill.

“Wait, be careful!” Rei dodged Nagisa’s waving arms and managed to catch him before he tumbled down the other side of the hill.

“You came! I almost started to think you wouldn’t but you did! I’m so happy to see you Rei-chan!” He shouted excitedly, sneaking his arms around Rei’s waist and started to spin himself around, bringing Rei with him. “I waited here all day and I got sort of bored waiting so I would play in the trees and grass and lake! I saw some people but none of them were Rei-chan so I didn’t try talking to them because I wanted to talk to you more than anything.”

“Please let go,” Rei managed to plant his feet firmly on the ground to stop Nagisa from spinning them down the hill. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come earlier. I was busy with work.” It was mostly true. He had his part-time job after class and homework to do so technically he didn’t have time to come down here.

“It’s fine don’t worry! You’re here now so we can talk and play all night and we ca-“

“No, Nagisa-kun. I came here to tell you I believe you.” Nagisa released his arms from around Rei’s waist and looked up at him. He was a few inches shorter than Rei, the top of his head only reaching Rei’s glasses.

“I told you I was a star. What further proof did you need? I literally fell from the sky as a molten hot ball of fire and you were still ‘no you can’t be a star you’re human like me’.” Nagisa huffed and clenched the fabric of his tunic.

“It-it took me a night to sleep on it to get used to the idea but I believe you. I’ve been presented with … proof of your being and the evidence suggests that you are in fact a, ah- … star.” Rei refused to meet the fallen star’s glittering gaze and instead looked down to his shirt where Nagisa had left more of that stardust all over him.

“I’m so glad you finally believe me,” Nagisa broke out into a wide grin. Rei’s heart skipped a beat. “Now come on and play with me!”

“Oh no you are absolutely _filthy_ I can barely look at you with the amount of dirt covering you,” Rei said.

Nagisa looked down at his arms and legs and noticed just how much dirt he had accumulated throughout the day. There was mud up and down his arms and legs and slathered across his satin tunic and grass stains across his bum and knees. His nails were crusted with dried dirt and twigs were stuck in his wild hair. That stardust covered his entire body in a thin film.

“Let’s get you back and take a bath. It’s getting dark anyway and it’s dangerous to be out this late,” Rei beckoned Nagisa to follow him as he started making his way back down the hill.

“But this is night time! It’s the time we stars shine most,” Nagisa sighed but followed along anyway.

“No night time is bedtime. Let’s get you a bath-“ Nagisa’s stomach grumbled loudly in protest,”- and something to eat. Then maybe we could play.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” And he meant to keep it this time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagisa goes home with Rei.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hihi it's Emizou. Did you know i'm a liar and an absolute piece of trash? well now you do!

Their journey home wasn’t as pleasant as Rei hoped it would have been. Nagisa had been brimming with energy and it had taken all of Rei’s will to keep him in check. Multiple times he had ran out into the middle of the street, followed closely by Rei as he chased him down and dragged him back to the safety of the sidewalk. Other occasions he would run up ahead and attempt to climb up whatever crossed his path (Rei had to practically yank him down) or would touch everything he deemed interesting (wads of gum on the ground, trash, benches, the bike racks, the trash cans, a couple stray cats). And despite the fact it was the middle of November, Nagisa didn’t seem to shy away from the cold at all in nothing but a flimsy tunic. When he asked if he was cold Nagisa simply responded with “it’s colder in space.”

Once they finally arrived at Rei’s apartment he turned to Nagisa and said, “When we get inside the first thing you’re gonna do is take a bath. I just cleaned the place and I don’t want you tracking dirt all over my apartment.” Rei pulled out his keys to unlock his door, only to remember that he didn’t even lock the door on his way out. His face warmed up as he shoved the door open to the brightly lit apartment.

Nagisa sprung into the small space and started to bounce around the rooms, going from the tiny living room to the kitchen and back out to run down the hallway. Rei managed to snatch his arm before he went into his clean room and got dirt everywhere.

“Get back here! You’re going to take a bath before you do _anything.”_ Rei dragged Nagisa back down the hall and into the bathroom. “I’ll go get you a towel and a spare change of clothes. Just drop what you’re wearing now into the basket and I’ll wash them while you’re in there. Feel free to use any of my soaps.”

Nagisa looked around the tiny bathroom; a look of confusion crossed his face. “How do I even do the bath thing anyway?” He asked

“Oh . . . I forgot you don’t know about a lot of things here, my apologies.” Rei shuffled his feet uncomfortably then launched into explanation. He showed him to turn on the shower head and filled the tub for him, pointed out which soaps to use in what order and how; he even went as far as to getting a towel and mimicking the motions of drying off his body.

“Call me if you have any problems. I’ll be in the living room so you don’t have to yell too loudly if you need me.” Rei concluded as he turned to leave.

“Ah Rei-chan?” Nagisa called. Rei stopped at the doorway and turned. “Thank you for helping me, really.” He twisted the towel Rei had given him in his hands, “I would still be rolling in the mud at that lake if you hadn’t come back.”

“Please, don’t mention it,” Rei said as he fixed his glasses. “It was the right thing to do. I couldn’t leave you out there in the cold.”

“You did last night.”

Rei let out an unflattering choking sound, “Th-that’s because I was alarmed that’s all! It’s not every day that I’m mowed down by someone, claiming they’re a star!”

Nagisa giggled and waved his hand, “Don’t worry about it I was kidding! Now how do you turn on the bathtub again?”

Rei ended up having to walk through the entire process of bathing with Nagisa. He hadn’t even realized that until he was scrubbing away the muck in Nagisa’s hair since he only managed to get more soap into his eyes than on his actual head.

“I didn’t know this could hurt so much, Rei-chan!” Nagisa complained, rubbing at his swollen eyes. “But this feels so nice. Now I see why you were so insistent of me taking a bath.”

“I’ll need to get you a shampoo visor if you’re just going to keep washing your eyes instead of your hair,” Rei said.

“That sounds so weird what does it do, keep the soap out of my eyes? Shield me from the bubbly destruction?” Nagisa sniggered.

“Exactly.”

“Oh stars I didn’t think I was right,” Nagisa laughed harder.

Rei couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle himself. Nagisa’s laugh was loud and as bubbly as his soapy hair, very contagious and admittedly  . . . adorable?

Their laughter was cut short when Rei let out a strangled sound that was a cross between a yelp and a cough. The pause that followed was broken by Nagisa bursting out into howls of laughter.

“That _sound_ you made Rei-chan! How is that possible oh jeez my sides hurt I- I can’t breathe!” Nagisa said between his throes of laughter.

“No stop laughing! Look at the water!” Rei spluttered and indicated wildly at the water, soap from his hands flying everywhere with his erratic hand movements.

“The water?” Nagisa looked down into the bathtub.

The steamy water didn’t reflect the bottom of the bathtub anymore, instead it was glittering and swirling with deep purples and navies and blacks. Streaks and speckles of silver sparkled and twirled like the stars in space. The bathtub water _looked_ like its own galaxy.

“What happened? How did this- I don’t- Nagisa-kun what did you _do!”_ Rei was flustered and slowly going red; either from the steam or the fact his bathtub was now a reflection of a starry night sky.

“I’m so sorry, Rei-chan. My stardust just mixed with the water that’s all I didn’t mean to mess up your tub.” Nagisa looked down apologetically.

“No don’t worry about it it’s fine it’s not something you could have prevented. This actually quite stunning.”  Rei knelt down beside the tub and dipped his fingers in it. The glittering silver and gold dust looked like the countless stars in space and the colors swirled and clustered together like nebulas and galaxies. “How is this happening?” Rei asked in awe.

“I honestly don’t know I think it has something to do with my skin flakes and the fact the air around me is just full of stardust. This is basically my essence mixed in with the bath,” Nagisa giggled and batted at the water’s surface, the dazzling water flying.

Rei quickly retracted his hand from the tub at the words “my essences” and wiped his fingers on the nearest towel.

Nagisa gasped, cupping some of the galaxy water close to his face. “Maybe,” he whispered, “it’s my celestial body unconsciously telling me it’s homesick.”

“If you really are homesick, is there any possible way for you to get back?” Rei asked as he returned to the task of washing Nagisa’s hair.

“Are you kidding me?! It’s _lame_ out there I just sort of float there waiting for the next comet to fly by. And it’s _really cold._ Even if there was a way back I wouldn’t want to go.” Nagisa huffed and ducked down into the water after his proclamation. At least that saves Rei with having to rinse him off.

Nagisa’s protesting stomach forced them to finish the bath shortly after. Rei had to look away when Nagisa stepped out of the sparkling bathtub. Still facing away, Rei held up a towel for Nagisa to wrap himself in while Rei went to drain and rinse off the bathtub.

 “This is agony!” Nagisa groaned as he clutched his stomach. “How do humans live with this?” A roaring growl ripped from his stomach.

“Finish drying your hair and get changed into the clothes I left on the hamper for you while I go make something. How does fried rice sound?”

“Fried what-a?”

“Fried- Oh you’ll see in about 10 minutes.” Rei bustled out of the bathroom, firmly shutting the door behind him.

Rei busied himself in the kitchen preparing rice and setting out the tableware. He didn’t actually have any sort of table to eat at with anyone, since he always ate alone at the coffee table in the living room. It felt a little wrong and rude of him to force Nagisa to eat on the floor in front of the TV with him instead of at a table. Rei had never had a guest at his tiny apartment before so he had no need to make guest accommodations. He did have an extra set of silverware and plates just in case, but that was more for just making Rei feel prepared. In actuality, he wasn’t prepared at all to have someone suddenly barge into his living space on such a short notice. He wasn’t even sure he had an extra futon!  

These worries had lulled Rei deep into his thoughts so when Nagisa had emerged from the bathroom wearing Rei’s large clothes and bounded into the kitchen with a shout, Rei nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise.

“Those choking screams you make are the funniest, Rei-chan!” Nagisa giggled.

“It’s your fault for scaring me so much!” Rei huffed and turned back to the stove top. The rice was almost done. “Where did you put your dirty clothes?”

“In that basket thing in the bathroom like you asked.” Nagisa said as he started to twirl around the cramped kitchen, opening cupboards and drawers to peek inside.

“Thank you. Now could you please remove yourself from the kitchen? It’s quite small and it’s hard to work with the both of us in here, especially if you’re moving around so much.”

“Sure thing!” Nagisa saluted and stepped out into the living room.

Rei served the fried rice onto two separate plates and brought them into the living room. He couldn’t even set it down before Nagisa grabbed a plate and started to inhale the food on it. It wasn’t even on the table yet and a quarter of it was already gone.

Nagisa was trying to say something but Rei couldn’t understand a word of it through all the food in his mouth. “Please chew with your mouth closed and swallow before you say anything. I’ll get you something to drink.”

Nagisa swallowed the mouthful he had and sighed contently, “I was saying this is really, really good. Could I have seconds?”

Rei decided it would be smarter to bring the whole pan of rice to the table instead of having to get up every few minutes to get Nagisa more rice. The small blond had already eaten at least three servings before Rei was finished with his first.

“Oh stars I’m stuffed! Thank you so much that was really delicious,” Nagisa said as he leaned back against the couch. “Can you make that again?”

“Of course. It’s good it’s a Ryugazaki family recipe passed down for generations. I’ll be glad to make you more anytime you want,” Rei said as he started gathering the dishes to bring into the kitchen. “I’m sorry we had to eat so unceremoniously. I don’t have an actual table for guests since I never have anyone come over.”

“What about your family?” Nagisa asked.

“My what? I didn’t quite catch that.” Rei said from the kitchen

“Your family. Don’t humans have those? There’s a mom and a dad and a kid and maybe that kid has a brother or sister. Maybe lots of them!” Nagisa said as he managed to climb to his feet with a grunt and wandered to the kitchen where Rei was doing dishes.

“Oh, I do, but my mom and dad are back in my hometown and my brother is finishing school in Kyoto.” Rei said while drying and putting away the dishes.

Nagisa pouted. “That seems lonely. Don’t you miss them?”

Rei shrugs, “Sometimes. I usually visit them when I don’t have as much work on a weekend. I call my mother often and sometimes I talk to my father if he’s around. My brother and I hardly ever talk but that’s okay since he’s really busy getting his Masters.”

“Well now I’m here so neither of us is alone now, huh!” Nagisa giggled.

Rei cracked a smile, “I suppose.”

\---

Figuring out sleeping arrangements was just as stressful. Nagisa kept insisting that “stars don’t sleep” but Rei would have none of it.

“No, you need somewhere to rest. Right now you’re a human and humans need to sleep. I don’t have any spare futon so I’ll make you a bed on the couch with some spare blankets and let you use one of my extra pillows. It’s not much but it’s something.”

“I told you I’m a star and stars are active at night so I don’t need to sleep.”

“Okay but what about during the day? Stars ‘sleep’ during the day so where will you sleep then?”

“I could just use your bed. It’s not like you’re using it.”

Rei flushed pink at those words and would have probably laughed if Nagisa hadn’t looked so serious saying it.

“I’ll just set up the couch anyway for you to sleep on so in case your _celestial_ body gets tired you can sleep. I don’t have any spare toothbrushes, but we can pick that up when we go shopping tomorrow.” Rei said as he pulled blankets and a spare pillow from the closet and spread them on the couch.

“What was that, Rei-chan? My _celestial body_?”  Nagisa cupped his hand over his ear as though he was trying to hear Rei better.

“You know what, good night.” That came out a few octaves higher than he would have wanted it to. Rei quickly made his way to his bedroom and closed the door firmly behind him. Nagisa’s sniggering followed him the entire way.

Rei flopped onto his bed with the most ungraceful _fwoop_ and groaned into his pillows. It had been a very _long_ and absolutely _exhausting_ day for him. To meet the star child in such a way (his body was still aching from the impact) and the amount of stress he had been under all day worrying about him. He tried getting comfortable in bed but his nerves were still too frazzled. After tossing and turning for almost an hour, Rei tossed his covers aside and pulled his laptop off his nightstand. After it hummed to life he opened up his browser and went straight to his blogging site. Since he couldn’t sleep, might as well document today’s activities.

\---

Rei’s blog entry number 478: November 13th 11:38PM

Remember in my previous entry I mentioned a boy that called himself a shooting star? All day today I couldn’t stop myself worrying about him and what dangers he would get himself into being left alone. I went to the park this evening to see if he was still around, just to check and make sure he had gone. Instead I found him playing around the lake shore. I felt bad when I learned he’d been at the park since the night before waiting for

\---

Rei stopped typing and read over his work. No, this sounded too suspicious, like something at the beginning of a murder mystery. He realized then this wasn’t something he could post precariously on his blog, for the entire internet to see. Questions would arise if he posted this. Why didn’t Rei simply take him to the police? Why didn’t he insist on having the star call his parents? What if he was just a con artist? What if Nagisa was just mentally unstable?

He couldn’t just tell the internet that Nagisa was actually a star. That his magic ash healed his paper cut, how his skin turned his bath into a starry sky, or the way his eyes- oh his _eyes_ \- how they sparkled and swirled like the galaxies far, far away. _He’d_ be deemed the crazy one.

The small boy made of stardust and smiles was filling his mind and it was starting to drive him mad. He was a nuisance, yes, but he was also starting to grow on him. Maybe it was the secret paternal side to him that drove him to care for Nagisa.

He could hear shuffling from the living room. It seemed that despite the late hour Nagisa was still as active as ever doing God knows what. Rei quietly exited out of his browser and shut off his laptop, then placed it back on his nightstand. He sat up for a little while longer, listening to Nagisa moving around. The occasional whisper flitted through his door. Rei couldn’t make out exactly what Nagisa was saying but he did catch the word “sorry” several times.

Sleep slowly overtook Rei; his eyes growing heavier as he listened to the rustling of movement and delicate whispers like a soft lullaby that rocked him to a sleep filled with the galaxies beyond his reach and a bubbling laugh.

\---

The pale morning light awoke Rei a good half hour before his alarm would have. He lay there blinking slowly at his blurred surroundings while the previous day’s events slowly came back to him.

For a millisecond he thought it was another allergy medicine induced dream before he remembered that it, in fact, had actually happened.  Slipping out of bed he trudged quietly from his room and out into the living room to where Nagisa slept.

He did indeed fall asleep last night or maybe earlier this morning. The pale light came in through the balcony doors and illuminated the softly glowing boy wrapped up haphazardly in the blankets on the couch. A string of drool connected him from his mouth to the pillow and Rei could tell he was going to roll out of bed with the nastiest bed head. Rei smiled slightly at the goofy sight and debated if he should take a picture of this or not to tease him about it later.Opting not to, since that would just be invasive, he retreated into the bathroom to wash his face. After making a quick and quiet breakfast consisting of coffee and oatmeal he headed out to his part time job, but not before he wrapped up a bowl of oatmeal for Nagisa and left a note on the coffee table explaining where he went and how to reheat the oatmeal.

\---

Rei tried his best to focus on his job at the library, he honestly did. But within the quiet stacks and hushed tones it was easy for his thoughts to slip back to Nagisa sleeping at his apartment. He was so strung up about the star child that he ended up drinking three cups of coffee before lunch. After work he had about an hour before his class started. Usually he would stop at a fast food joint or grab a snack at a corner store before heading over to his university, but instead he opted to check in on Nagisa. It would cut out his chance to eat lunch but he would rather be hungry for a couple hours than stress over Nagisa alone in his apartment.

As Rei was pulling out his keys, the front door flew open and Nagisa came stumbling out. He still wore the large sweatshirt and old running shorts he had loaned him last night and his hair looked like he stuck his finger into an electrical socket.

“Rei-chan!” he shouted. “I woke up this morning and you were gone! I looked all over for you so I was about to go out and search for you!”

Rei furrowed his brows in confusion, “I left a note for you it should be on the table next to where you were sleeping.”

“A . . . note?”

“Yes, a note. I explained that I had to go to work and class and wouldn’t be back until after 4. However, I’m stopping by real quick before class to check in on you.” Rei started to herd him back inside. “I’ll make you something to eat before I have to head out. Get back inside, it’s freezing out here.”

“It’s not that cold,” Nagisa grumbled but allowed himself to be ushered back inside.

Rei reheated the oatmeal he made this morning for Nagisa to eat (Rei didn’t have that much food to begin with, since it was around the time he was supposed to make his weekly shopping trip). When Nagisa took a bite of the oatmeal he made a face and made a clear show of forcefully swallowing it.

“It tastes as bad as it looks,” he wrinkled his nose and dug his spoon into the grey muck.

“Well, that’s just plain oatmeal. You could add sugar and fruit in it to make it taste sweeter.”

“Oh stars, please! This tastes so bland and goopy!”

Rei dug out the sugar from his pantry and poured a spoonful of it into the oatmeal. Nagisa mixed it in and tried another bite, only to make another face of disgust and started pouring half the container into his bowl. Rei let out a strangled shriek and pulled the sugar out of his hands but it was too late. There was already more sugar than actual oatmeal now.

“That’s not healthy for you at all! Sugar is okay in small doses, but if you have too much it could ruin your health.” Rei proceeded to put away what sugar he had remaining. 

“Rei-chan’s cruel,” Nagisa huffed and went back to eating his oatmeal; a more satisfied expression adorned his features.

“I must be going now or else I’ll be late for class. There’s some peaches and yogurt in the fridge you can snack on until I get back but _please_ refrain from eating all of them, They’re supposed to last me until at least Sunday.” Rei tightened his scarf around his neck and put his shoes back on to leave.

“Wait, I’m leaving too!” Nagisa called out as he shoved the now empty oatmeal bowl and spoon into the sink. Rei quickly reached out and grabbed Nagisa’s arm before he could even make it out the door.

“I’d rather you go out in more . . . appropriate attire. I can loan you some more clothes for now--since you insist on going out-- but this weekend we’ll go shopping for your own set of clothes.”

“I’m fine like this. I told you I don’t get cold,” Nagisa asserted.

“You need shoes. And pants. A jacket too,” Rei pointed out.

Nagisa huffed, “Fine.”

Rei removed his shoes again and went back to his bedroom, followed closely by Nagisa.

“All my stuff is too big but we’ll make do,” Rei said as he rummaged through his closet.

In the end, they managed to fit Nagisa with a sweatshirt that said “butter butter” across it and pair of jeans held up with a belt, the bottoms rolled up so Nagisa wouldn’t step all over them.

“Rei-chan, you’re so huge,” Nagisa giggled as he started flapping his arms about, the long sleeves acting as arm extensions. When one of the sleeves smacked Rei’s glasses off with a “Sorry, Rei-chan,” Rei grabbed Nagisa’s arms and rolled up the sleeves so he could use his hands.

“Much better. Now you can go out.”

Nagisa hopped up and followed Rei out of the apartment; a pair of old flip flops on his feet.

As Rei locked up the apartment, he asked, “What are you going out to do, anyway? You’re not going to be following me to class now, right?”

“Oh, it’s just some star business I have to attend to. Just granting wishes to those who wished upon me as I fell. I’ve been too lazy. I should have started yesterday,” Nagisa said.

“Wait, you grant wishes?” Rei turned around only to see that the star that was practically breathing down his neck earlier was gone.

Rei looked quickly from side to side, hoping he’d see Nagisa darting off down the sidewalk. There was no possible way that he could have just vanished into thin air, right? With all of the surprises he’d gotten so far, though, sudden teleportation didn’t seem like it was out of the question. Rei let out a small sigh and set off to class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry it took so long! Second semester was such a hassle for me and whenever i did sit down to write it wasn't even much. the first draft of this chapter was so gross and choppy since nothing flowed together right but thanks to Mari and Bridget and their awesome editing skills it's waaaay better now. Maybe I'll have another chapter up before summer ends- who knows?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's so much to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WoW that took a long time to do. I wrote the first have of the chapter but I didn't like how I portrayed Rei so I scrapped it and started all over. I got stuck a lot but here it is! I have the outline for the next chapter so I don't think it will take me 6 months to post it.... I hope...

 As a now-fallen star, Nagisa had one mission; grant every single wish that was wished upon him as he fell. Technically, he should have started the moment he touched down to Earth in one piece but he was so caught up with his thoughts of seeing Ryugazaki Rei that it had totally slipped his mind. He now had to get back on track and make some dreams come true.

His wish granting abilities did have limitations. For example,  he couldn’t just magically summon a large sum of money to appear on the wisher’s doorstep, but he could make their boss decide to give them a pay raise, or to find a lucky 2000 yen on the street.

His first wish was from an office worker; bags under his eyes and wrapped in a thick knit scarf as he crossed the street.

The wish he had made rang through Nagisa’s head, just as clear as when it was first heard: _“I wish it was warm again.”_

It was impossible to change the weather like that, especially in the middle of November. Instead, when he passed by the grocery store with a raffle out front, he blew a bit of his sparkling star dust onto the box as he walked by and then a little more into the breeze to catch in the man’s face.

The shivering office worker paused for a second when the dust was caught in his hair and noticed the raffle box. Nagisa watched as the man bought a ticket and waited with everyone else for the prizes to be announced. The man’s number was drawn for the first place prize consisting of two tickets for a week-long trip to Okinawa.

Smiling from ear to ear, Nagisa skipped to find his next wish.

\---

Unlike Nagisa, Rei wasn’t exactly smiling from ear to ear. He was a bit peeved at himself for missing lunch but brushed it off thinking that he will have a big dinner instead to make up for it. His annoyance only doubled when he received the score to his last test, a measly 78. Rei grumbled about his incompetence to pass that test with a higher grade even though that was an easy class. To make his annoyance only increase, the notes he was sorting through as he walked to his next class slipped through his fingers and scattered across the icy campus sidewalk. He swore and bent down to pick them up.

“Need a hand?” A large set of hands came into view and started picking up Rei’s papers.

“Oh, Makoto-senpai! Thank you very much,” Rei bowed his head in thanks and gathered the rest of the papers.

“It’s no problem at all,” Makoto smiled warmly and stood up with Rei. “How are you? It’s been awhile since we last spoke.”

“I’m just fine, thank you for asking.”

Tachibana Makoto was a year older than Rei and majored in child development.  Makoto was just a partner in his comp class at first, but they became acquaintances shortly after. Rei wouldn’t dare call him a friend; they only spoke to one another when they ran into each other like this.

“Oh, hey, since it’s been so long since we’ve talked why don’t we hang out sometime? I’m going out with Haru and Kisumi tomorrow night at Kaido’s Bar. Why don’t you join?” Makoto shuffled his feet and fiddled with Rei’s papers he had in his hands, but still had on a gentle smile.

“I’m going to have to decline your invitation since I have work tomorrow night.” It wasn’t totally a lie. He did have to work but only until seven. Rei really just didn’t want to hang out with people he hardly knew outside of class. Besides, he had some very important business that kept him occupied besides his own school work and job.

“That’s alright, it can’t be helped!  Let’s hang out some other time then? I’ll text you this weekend!” Makoto waved as he started to walk off, only to remember that he still had Rei’s notes in his hands and returned them, flushed and apologizing profusely.

Rei sighed once he was out of earshot. A cold wind drew a shudder from him, forcing him to pick up his pace to get to his next class.

The worries he’d managed to file into the back of the mind were slowly creeping back to his forethought; his nervousness for Nagisa, his overall confusion for their current situation, and the increasing anxiety over his future. He didn’t know if he should- or _could-_ even tell anyone about Nagisa, and if he did he didn’t know what the consequences could be. This wasn’t exactly like an analysis  essay where he could do research to gather some sources then compile his findings into an organized catalogue with a strong introduction and five supporting paragraphs.

Rei stopped in his tracks. That’s it!

This was something new and unheard of, something that _Rei_ could do research on. He could create a journal on Nagisa. Rei’s heart raced with anticipation and a smile graced his face as he ran the rest of the way to class.

\---

Rei’s thoughts were spinning on his way back to his apartment. His eyes were still heavy from his lack of sleep but he was excited about the prospect of researching Nagisa. He had already compiled a list of questions to ask as soon as he got back instead of giving his full attention to the lecture. He ignored his growling stomach and practically ran up the stairs to his apartment.

He skid to a halt when he saw the curled up form of Nagisa in front of his apartment door. All his excitement went right out the window and was replaced with panic.

“Nagisa-kun! What happened are you okay?” Rei knelt down and shook Nagisa’s arm.

“I was taking a nap while waiting for you to come back.” Nagisa yawned and stood up, stretching his arms over his head.  An audible pop was heard from his back. “That wasn’t as comfy as I thought it would be.”

Rei ushered him out of the way and unlocked the apartment door to allow them in. The air of the apartment was only slightly warmer than outside. He took off his shoes and placed them neatly in the entryway, Nagisa followed suit and placed his shoes neatly next to Rei’s. Rei rubbed his hands to warm them as he turned on the heater.

“Where did you go today?” he asked, “I was worried since you just ran out with barely a word.”

“Didn’t I tell you? I swore I did,” Nagisa hummed and followed Rei into the kitchen. “What’s for dinner by the way?”

“Curry. I think you’ll like it,” Rei said as he bustled around the kitchen. “You said something about granting wishes but you didn’t really elaborate. Can you explain what that was all about?”

“Well because I’m a fallen star my job is to grant wishes,” Nagisa hopped onto the counter only to be nudged off by Rei. “You know when people close their eyes and make a wish when they see a light shoot across the sky? I don’t know where humans learned about that but it’s true. Most of the time what you guys see are just comets and asteroids so that’s why wishes don’t come true. A star hardly ever falls and when we do and survive, we have the power to grant any wish that was made on us while falling.”

“That’s… interesting,” Rei had stopped what he was doing halfway through Nagisa’s explanation and stared openly at him. “Is there some sort of technicality behind this ability of yours?”

“I actually don’t really understand that much about it myself,” Nagisa said.

“Can you still answer some questions I have? Like approximately, how old are you?”

Nagisa let out a loud laugh. “That’s rude to ask about someone’s age.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t-“

“No, no! I’m kidding, Rei-chan. I think I’m about 476,190,476 Earth years old.”

Rei didn’t respond. Instead he went back to work in preparing dinner.

“Or I’m around twenty-one or so in a human lifespan.” Nagisa shifted his feet and tugged on his sleeves a bit nervously.”Sort of like how dogs live shorter lifespans than humans so they’re middle aged by the time they’re seven.”

“You look pretty good for someone who is four hundred million plus years old.” Rei’s cheeks flushed pink the moment the words left his mouth.

“Well _yeah_ , I’m not _that_ old,” Nagisa rolled his eyes.

Rei quickly changed the subject. “How about you give me a hand and get the plates out I’ll be done in a few minutes. Sorry this curry isn’t made from scratch. It’s the instant kind.”

“Instant?” asked Nagisa.

“It was premade. I really just warmed it up and added something to it so it’s not nearly as nice as curry made from scratch.”

“That’s okay! Rei-chan made it so I bet it tastes amazing!” The pink flush returned to Rei’s cheeks.

“I don’t think I’m that good... I can only make simple recipes.”

Nagisa laughed and started rummaging through the cupboards looking for plates. “Don’t say that, it’s true! The food you made me last night made me feel warm and happy. Except that gray stuff you made today. That was nasty.”

“They’re in the cupboard by the sink. You haven’t eaten anything besides my own food so you have nothing to compare it too.” Rei paused for a second then said, “One day I’ll take you out to a nice place where you can eat really good food.”

They sat down in Rei’s living room to eat. Once again, Nagisa inhaled every scrap of food that wasn’t on Rei’s plate then flopped onto the couch with a satisfied sigh.

“Don’t lay down after you just ate; it’s not good for your digestion.”

“I don’t even have the energy to care right now.” To prove his point Nagisa let out a loud yawn.

“Nagisa-kun? Can I ask you some questions before I go do my homework?”

“About what, Rei-chan?”

“You. I want to know more about you and the stars. I’m an astronomy major so being able to actually _talk_ to a star is absolutely fascinating!”

“A what-a?” Nagisa turned his head to meet Rei’s eyes.

“An astronomy major. Astronomy is the study of the universe. When I say I major in astronomy it means it’s what I focus on studying most and it will help me with whatever career I decide to choose.”

“But you study it so shouldn’t you know everything? Then why are you asking me?”

“I’m still learning and I want to learn more, especially since I can actually ask a star instead of looking at them from a high powered telescope.”

Now it was Nagisa’s turn to turn pink. “You can ask me questions then.”

Rei got up to grab a composition book and a pen then sat down next to Nagisa, the book opened on the first page and pen posed to write. He stared intently at Nagisa before he started firing questions at him.

\---

Log 1: Nagisa

Nagisa is a star that “fell” from the depths of space and into Earth. Location before he “fell” is currently unknown. During his fall he can hear the wishes people ask off of him. Once he made it down his first priority was to grant those wishes. Unknown what will happen after he is done. It is rare for stars to make the “fall” alive into Earth. Most of them either burn out, crash, or land in the ocean and drown. His “wishing” capabilities are unknown. If he ages like a human does is still unknown.

\---

The two of them fell into a routine where Rei would go to school and work while Nagisa would wander around granting wishes. Nagisa would stay up late watching TV (with the volume down low so Rei could sleep) and would fall asleep just before Rei woke up to go to school. Rei would come back for lunch and make them something to eat, then they would both head out. After about four days of this Rei noticed how empty his wallet was getting. He had learned the hard way that it was a bad idea to take Nagisa to the market since all he wanted to do was buy everything in sight. He somehow managed to stop him from buying out the entire place but they still left with three more bags than what Rei usually bought. He realized that the other mouth he had to feed wasn’t a star as much as he was a black hole. A black hole that sucked in food.

His only solution was to ask his parents to send him more money. They already transferred money to him once a month to pay for rent and school and he had a part time job to pay the utilities. He used the same amount of money for the same things every month, never over spending and always putting leftover money into savings or towards his hobbies. He had no room in his financial plan to feed an extra mouth or clothe an extra body.

When he called to ask, they believed he was saving up for some telescope parts. This, of course, wasn’t true. The next morning he discovered he was given more money than he had originally expected to receive.

“Nagisa-kun, I have the day off.How about go shopping and buy you some clothes?” Rei suggested. It had been a week after Nagisa first fell and he was definitely overdue for some clothes.

“I don’t think I need anything; I’m fine just using your clothes.” Nagisa didn’t even glance away from the TV when he spoke.

“You just don’t want to miss your shows.”

“But Rei-chan! My favorite game show is coming on next and I don’t want to miss it! I _have_ to find out if they beat the guest team or not!”

“I’m not letting you wear my clothes for forever, they don’t even _fit_ you.” Rei thought for a second. “That one show you like with the idols you like their jackets right? If we go shopping we can get you one just like theirs.”

Nagisa had barely turned off the TV before he was at the door putting his shoes on.

\---

Rei was never really a fan of the mall. He usually avoided it unless he absolutely needed something. This particular trip was for Nagisa’s sake and he was willing to go through with it if it was to get Nagisa to stop wearing his clothes. Nagisa had already taken a liking to Rei’s butter butter sweatshirt and he really wanted to wear it again while it was still cold.

“First we’ll go to the department store and get the basic: shirts, pants, a jacket, socks, and underwear. Then we’ll scan the rest of the mall and find anything else you might want. The shoe store will be our last stop.” Rei said, mostly to himself, as they entered the mall. “Or should we go shoe shopping first?”

“Let’s go in that store!” Nagisa had caught Rei’s arm and pulled him into a store with shiny mannequins displaying expensive looking clothes and loud music.

“I- I don’t- fine, let’s go.”

Nagisa ran through the store, running his hands along the countless racks of clothes and leaving stardust on every article of clothing he got his hands on (which was most of it). Anything he found even particularly interesting he would point excitedly at (which was nearly everything in the store).

“Rei that shirt has _popsicles_ on it! I need it!” he grabbed the first one on the rack and thrusted it into Rei’s arms.

“Hold on, we need to figure out what size you are before we start mindlessly- Nagisa-kun _wait!”_ Too late, Nagisa had already ran off to a different rack. Rei sighed and picked out a couple different sizes for the popsicle shirt.

They were in that store for almost an hour before Rei practically forced Nagisa into the dressing room to try on everything. While Nagisa was trying on clothes, Rei was running back and forth through the store putting away clothes that didn’t fit and retrieving other things Nagisa requested. At some point they had enlisted the help of one of the employees who was beyond excited to learn that Nagisa needed an entire new wardrobe.

“Right now, patterns are in. Florals are still sort of here but they’re not as popular as they were in the summer. Joggers are a big thing now too, and so is fur for some reason.” The employee, Kou, said.

Rei didn’t even know what joggers were. They sounded like a type of running shoes. Maybe he should invest in some? “Um, no fur but anything you think will work for him. He likes a lot of colors.”

“That’s a shame. There’s hardly any colors in during the winter season. Check the clearance racks and you guys should find some summer leftovers on sale. He might enjoy that. Winter brings in a lot of blacks and heavier clothes so we don’t really have much of the stuff he would like.” Kou said.

“That’s perfectly alright. It will be much easier on my wallet if we shopped only in the clearance section.” Rei joked.

“Ooh you’re treating him? What’s the occasion?” Kou scooted herself closer to Rei and leaned in as though waiting for him to spill some juicy gossip.

“He just doesn’t have a lot of clothes or a job to buy any, that’s all.” Rei leaned away from her sparkling gaze.

“That’s so sweet of you!” She leaned out of his space, “Are you guys a, you know, an item?”

“What-no! He’s just a friend that’s in a bad situation right now, that’s all!” Rei frantically waved his arms as though to brush off any false information.

“That’s still very kind of you. Here, give this shirt to your friend.” She pulled a simple white oxford shirt with pastel pink pinstripes from the rack she was going through and handed it to Rei.

“This is a nice shirt. Do you guys have one with purple?”

“No, but we have blue. Would you like me to get you one?”

Rei told her his size and went back to the dressing room to give Nagisa the shirt.

“Rei-chan, how’s this?” Nagisa threw open his dressing room door to show Rei what he was wearing. Rei had to choke down a scream.

Of all things Nagisa was wearing, it was distressed jeans. Rei _hated_ distressed jeans.

He wore a pair of straight cut distressed jeans with the hems rolled up over his ankles and a navy shirt with white varsity stripes on the sleeves. In his hands he held the same pair of jeans (most likely the wrong size) and a couple shirts.

“You don’t need those jeans. You can get a different pair and rip them yourself by running around.” Rei stiffened.

“I think they look great on him.” Kou came back and handed Rei the shirt he asked for and took the clothes Nagisa had in his hands. “Do these not fit?”

Nagisa nodded and turned back to Rei. “I really like them.”

“They give you sort of a ‘wild’ look, ya know?” Kou said.

“You don’t need shredded jeans for a ‘wild’ look when your hair does that all by itself.” Rei pointed out.

“ _Rude.”_ Nagisa shook his messy hair as though to prove Rei right. The glittering stardust that always clung to him so adamantly sprinkled from his hair and onto the dressing room floor.

“Whoa, where did all that glitter come from? Are you an art student? Or…?” Kou’s eyes roved between Rei and Nagisa with a suggestive quirk of her eyebrows.

It took Rei a second to realize what she might be implying. “N-no, he’s just an art student.”

Kou stared up at them for a second, her scarlet eyes boring holes into Nagisa and then Rei. Seemingly satisfied with her answer she smiled and said, “Makes sense. My brother’s friend is an art student and he’s pretty… unique, in a sense.”

Rei nearly let out a sigh of relief. Nagisa managed to steer the topic back to his distressed jeans and Rei was both instantly grateful yet beyond- no pun intended- _distressed_ over Nagisa’s obstinance over the pair of shredded pants.

In the end, Rei was swayed into letting Nagisa get them (“Just don’t wear them when I’m around.” “Maybe I’ll only wear them when you’re around just to spite you.”). They left after buying three pairs of pants, six shirts, and a jacket.

The rest of the trip remained pretty much the same. They managed to get more shirts and pants, some underwear, a heavier jacket, a beanie, and an array of multicolored socks (Nagisa took one look at the packet of white socks Rei picked out then turned away and pretended he never saw them). It took them a solid hour to find some shoes Nagisa would be satisfied with. Rei tried having him get some nice loafers or Oxfords but they were rejected on the spot. Nagisa had finally settled with a pair of pale pink sneakers and brown lace up boots.

Between the two of them there were around nine bags. Some of them had bags _inside_ of bags. Rei had done mental calculations throughout the trip to figure out how much exactly he’ll need to cut back on for the next month so he wouldn’t go into any sort of debt. He would have to cut back on warm showers and keep the heating down. A smaller breakfast and lunch will do just fine for a while. He could even go back to jogging instead of taking the bus literally everywhere, which would both deal with his weekly gym trips and his transportation costs-

“Rei-chan, thank you so much.” Nagisa smiled up at him. “You got me all this stuff and I had a lot of fun today.”

Rei’s worries were tossed away when Nagisa gave him that glittering smile of his. It didn’t matter that Rei had spent more money than he intended too or he would have to pile up on blankets for the next month because he made Nagisa smile like that.

“It’s no problem at all,” Rei smiled back. He thought he heard someone call his name and turned around to see if there was anyone he recognized.

“What’s wrong, Rei-chan?” Nagisa asked, looking behind him too.

“It’s nothing. I thought I heard someone call me. Come on, let’s go home.” Rei turned back around only to hear his name being called again.

He did a double take when he saw Makoto coming emerging from the crowd, out of breath as though he had been going after Rei and Nagisa for quite a distance.

“Oh, Makoto-senpai! I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there.” Rei turned around fully to face Makoto and noticed the man trailing behind him. “Who’s this?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing.” Makoto gestured at Nagisa.

“This is Nagisa-kun. He’s a friend of mine.” Rei said.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Tachibana Makoto, but Makoto is just fine. This is my friend Nanase Haruka.” Makoto politely bowed at Nagisa and his friend, Nanase, did the same.

“Haru is fine.” Haruka said. Unlike Makoto’s kind smile and gentle eyes, Haruka had a neutral, almost bored, expression in his face. He spoke softly, his tone monotonous.

“We saw you walking and thought we’d invite you to join us at the bar tomorrow night. A couple of our friends will be there, so it’s not going to be anything too big. It’s at the same place I invited you to last time, Kaido’s.” Makoto continued.

Rei was about to reject his offer when Nagisa spoke up before Rei could. “I’ve never been to a bar! Rei-chan and I will definitely join you guys.”

“Are you even old enough to drink?”  Haruka asked him.

“Yes I am.” Nagisa pouted. “Don’t let my face fool you I’m actually 21 in your hum-“

Rei smacked a hand over Nagisa’s mouth and asked. “What time should we be there?”

“Around 6. Do you know where Kaido’s is?” Makoto said.

“By the Lawson’s, right?”

Makoto nodded and waved. “Can’t wait to see you guys. I have to go drop this guy off and get to work. See ‘ya!”

“Bye.”

“Bye-bye!”

After the two disappeared Rei rounded on Nagisa. “I was about to turn them down. Why did you answer before me?” He snapped.

“I’ve never been to a bar before and it looks like fun?” Nagisa looked a little taken aback.

Rei sighed. “I’m sorry for snapping at you. But you don’t have an ID so they wouldn’t let you drink anyway.”

Nagisa froze, realization dawning on his face. “Oh… that’s a problem… Can we get me one before tomorrow night?”

“No, because that requires a social security number and birth certificate and you have neither. And even if you did it would take a month in advance to schedule an appointment and another couple weeks for them to mail it to you.  I’m sorry, Nagisa-kun.”

“We’re still going right? Even though I can’t have a blue lagoon or a pink panty dropper?” Nagisa grinned a bit hesitantly.

Rei spluttered. “W-where did you hear about those?”

“Rei-chan, I’ve been watching a lot of TV when you’re out.” Nagisa said, voice dropping to a more serious tone. “ _Are_ we still going?”

“Yes we’re still going. You gave me no room to dismiss his request.” Rei grumbled.

“Will you drink a pink panty dropper for me then?”

“ _I absolutely will not.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! I'm so sorry for taking so long to do this but I'm resolved to finish this fic! Kudos, comments, etc etc are greatly appreciated!!! -Emizou

**Author's Note:**

> Ooh ooHH! what's gonna happen next!!!! !! Stay tuned i'll have the next chapter out in about a week or a month I'm not sure I'm a terrible person.  
> PS. I’m not even sure about Rei’s telescope I literally googled fancy telescope and used one of the first ones that popped up and basically re-wrote the description in Rei’s explanation. I don’t know anything about stars or when they appear in the sky this is based purely off google  
> Also, remember as the end of episode 6 in season one, how that nerd was naming off stars and constellations? So this AU is really just annunciating on that fact that Rei knows about stars.  
> Please leave kudos and comments below I like those they motivate me to do something.


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